The present invention is directed to an electroplating apparatus for plate-shaped workpieces, particularly printed circuit boards, which apparatus includes a container of an electrolytic material having a conveying arrangement for conveying a workpiece through the electrolyte solution in a horizontal path, at least one contacting mechanism arranged laterally relative to the transverse path for cathodic contacting of the workpiece and a cover arranged at the side of the transversal path for protecting the contact means of the contacting mechanism against access or contact with the electrolyte solution.
An electroplating apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,271, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference and which claims priority from the same German Application as European Patent Application A0 254 962. In this electroplating apparatus, a contacting mechanism for cathodic contacting of the workpiece is formed by forceps-shaped contact clamps, which are laterally offset with respect to the workpiece, and includes an endless drive preferably serves as a displaceable carrier for the contact clamps. At the beginning of the conveying path, means are provided to cause the grasping of the lateral edges of the workpiece by the contact clamps and at the end of the conveying path means are provided for causing the release of the workpiece by the contact clamps. The contact clamps, thus, can also act simultaneously to serve as a conveyor element for the throughput of the workpiece. The contact clamps are shielded against access or contact with the electrolyte solution by a seal that extends laterally in the throughput direction and presses resiliently against the respective workpieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,934, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference thereto and which is based on German Published Application 36 24 481, discloses another electroplating apparatus wherein a conveyor means is constructed as an endless circulating, driven row of individual conveyor elements that retain the lateral edges of the plate-shaped workpiece and move in a conveying direction. Means which cause the grasping of the plate-shaped workpieces by the conveyor elements or, respectively, cause the release of the plate-shaped workpiece by the conveyor elements, are provided at the beginning and the end of the conveyor path of the plate-shaped workpieces which are placed in the electrolyte chamber. Apart from the beginning of the grasping or, respectively, the beginning of the release, no relative movement between the conveyor elements and the workpiece edges occurs so that the wear phenomena or, respectively, abrasion phenomena of the conveyor elements are avoided. The conveyor elements can, thus, also simultaneously serve for the power supply to the plate-shaped workpiece.